Convince Me
by The Seamonkey
Summary: When James dares Peter to challenge his intense fear of heights, Peter chooses a cunning route to revenge. Rated T to be safe. SBLE.


**A/N: I had a dream last night that gave birth to this story; it was very vivid, so I decided to write it out as a one-shot and stick it in the wizarding world. Enjoy.**

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"Truth." 

"Aw, that's no fun!" James groaned. "Truth is only an option because girls won't do dares!" The teenagers gathered in the common room chuckled, even the girls; they knew he only half-meant it. Besides, all was fair play in the infamous Marauder-induced games of truth-or-dare. They had been held almost monthly on Saturday evenings in the Gryffindor common room for the past year at least, and included only sixth- and seventh-years. Everyone else had to clear out and wish they were old enough to participate. Lily Evans was reigning champion of creative dares, while Sirius Black was renowned for his willingness to do just about anything; together, they made an extremely entertaining pair during the games.

Lily watched with a grin as Remus shrugged and laced his fingers behind his head, leaning back in his armchair. "I'm not risking a repeat of last time." Everyone laughed again—James had made him relieve himself out the window. The antagonist in question rolled his eyes and cast around the room for suggestions of a truth to ask.

"Fine, uh...what's...your favourite...way to torture Peeves?"

"Magically sticking him to Professor Binns' blackboard with gum," Remus answered without hesitation. "Alice, truth or dare?"

"Truth," the sixth-year girl giggled, nervous at having been put on the spot.

"See?" James announced indignantly. "They _never_ do dares." Lily told him to shut up, followed by a kiss to ensure his continued silence. Remus asked Alice if she'd ever had sex, to which she blushed furiously and muttered that she hadn't. Everyone _aww_-ed as she laughed embarrassedly and threw pillows at her friends. James tossed a casual arm around Lily and tugged her a little closer to his side, planting a kiss on the top of her head and winking at Remus. She elbowed him. He didn't have to make public what they had or hadn't done.

Alice dared her friend to lick another person's bare toe, much to her own disgust when the friend decided to lick _Alice's_ toe. Much laughter followed that backfired dare. A few more rounds went by, and then yawns began to permeate the game. Finally, it was James' turn again to be the asker, and Peter had picked dare. James grinned evilly and said, "I dare you to ride around the tower on my broom."

Peter paled. Lily frowned; James _knew_ Peter was afraid of heights. "James, that's not fair," she protested, but he waved her off.

"That's the point of truth or dare, Lils! Besides—it's about time he got over his fear. Right, Pete?"

The smaller boy hesitated, then nodded and licked his suddenly dry lips. James handed over the broom and gestured lazily for Peter to get on it. Lily crossed her arms in disapproval, still frowning. "You don't have to do it if you don't want to, Peter." He shook his head at her, however, an almost feverish look in his eyes. He was far too eager to prove himself to his friends, in Lily's opinion. Peter sat on the broom and gripped it with both hands, so tight that she feared he wouldn't be able to pry them off of it afterwards. He kicked off slowly, and urged the broom towards the open window. James watched, looking bored, and called for him to hurry up.

With a determined glare at no one in particular, Peter flew out the window and turned to go slowly around the tower, hugging the outside of the wall and wobbling a bit. Everyone hurried over to the window on the other side of the room, waiting for him to come around into sight, and called out bits of encouragement when they spotted him. Lily's heart went out to him as she saw his gritted teeth and wide eyes, focused solely on the piece of wood that was the only barrier between him and the ground several stories below. He passed by the window, on the final stretch now, and everyone went to the first window to wait for him

Lily reached out and put her hand on his shoulder to guide him back into the common room, and steadied him when he stumbled as he dismounted. He grimly handed the broom back to a satisfied James, face ashen, and sat down heavily on the couch where he'd been sitting before. Everyone settled themselves back down as well. James looked around and saw how tired everyone was; it was nearing one in the morning now. "This will be the last round," he announced, and there were some definite sighs of relief mixed in with the wave of yawns that circled the room at his words. Lily looked thoughtfully at Peter. He had stopped trembling, but his skin was still white. She wondered how he would get back at James, since this was the last round; it was a rule that you couldn't dare the person who had just dared you, because if that was allowed then James and Sirius would just dare each other all night long and no one else would get to participate.

"Sirius," Peter said quietly, and everyone hushed, watching. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare, mate," Sirius said with a confident smile, his arm around his latest girlfriend. Lily swore he had a new one every week; she didn't know how there were enough girls at Hogwarts to keep him out of boredom. Mind, he'd managed to keep this one for almost two months now—that was a momentous commitment on his part. Perhaps he had finally decided to settle down...though Lily doubted it. You could never really tell with Sirius.

Peter was speaking again. "I dare you to make Lily think you're going to kiss her."

"What?"

A chorus of voices spoke the word at the same time, including Lily. She was confused. What was the point of that? Kissing was one thing, but this escaped her. Beside her, James sat upright and cried, "Oi! What's the idea?"

Peter shrugged. "It's not your dare, James." Lily bit her lip so as not to laugh at the colour James' face turned after that.

"I don't get it," Sirius was saying. "Make her kiss me?"

"No, make her think you're going to kiss her."

"Without actually kissing her?"

"Yeah."

"But...now she knows I'm not going to."

"Make her think so anyway."

Lily shook her head. This was bizarre—but it was working, whatever Peter had intended; James was furious. Peter had played on the extreme jealousy that James got whenever his relationship with Lily was threatened, and doubled the anger factor by making it James' best friend. She turned her attention now to Sirius, who was shrugging and getting up to come and sit beside her on the smaller couch. Looking uncomfortable, he coughed slightly, and Lily raised her eyebrows with the hint of a smile playing around her lips. "Well, Black?" she teased. "Convince me."

The smile died as Sirius leaned forward until his face was not inches from hers. He lifted a hand and, barely touching her skin, brushed a wisp of hair behind her ear, then trailed his fingertips gently down the side of her neck. She couldn't help the goosebumps that raised on her skin where he touched her. He brought his face still closer to hers. She felt his breath on her lips, and hardly dared to breathe herself. He moved his mouth slowly closer to hers until she found herself swearing she could _taste _him on her tongue...but their lips did not connect. He moved until his mouth was at her ear, and she shivered. "Convinced?" he whispered huskily, and with a small gasp she drew away. He leaned back, grinning widely at her, and she found that she had to work hard to hear the laughter in the room over her pounding heart. James threw his arms around her and pulled her into his lap, glaring daggers at Sirius.

"That is enough of _that_," he spat, and Peter spoke up quietly.

"All's fair in truth or dare, James."

Lily had to admit, she was very impressed with the boy. That had been an extremely cunning way of getting g revenge on James. But she wasn't sure she at all liked the effect that Sirius had had on her; _he's got so many girls for a reason_, she reminded herself. That was all. She glanced over at the girl he was currently dating—Georgia, she thought her name was—and found herself on the receiving end of a very dark glare. Lily smiled apologetically and shrugged.

"Well, that was the last round, so goodnight everyone!" Remus said, standing and stretching; all the rest of the group followed his example. Lily stayed seated. She wasn't all that tired yet, and didn't want to keep her roommates up by leaving a light on. James offered a hand up to her, and she shook her head, tugging him down for a kiss instead. When the room was empty, she tucked her legs up underneath her and rested her head on the arm of the couch, staring idly at the fire.

"Not sleepy?"

She glanced over her shoulder to see Sirius leaning casually on the other end of the couch. She flashed him a grin and turned back to the fireplace. "No, not really. Aren't you?"

"I never sleep," he scoffed. "Too much going on up here." He tapped the side of his head, walking around to plop down beside her. "Besides, why would I when I can keep you company instead? Hmm, room full of snoring men or conversation with beautiful girl...tough one."

Lily laughed. He was always flirting with her. Not that she minded; now that he and James had finally gotten tired of being royal pains in society's ass, she truly enjoyed their companionship—and more than that with James. She smiled to herself just thinking about him. He was so good to her. Jealous, maybe, and a little overprotective, but good nonetheless. She knew she wouldn't find another like him anytime soon. He could be a little predictable at times, though; once he'd given up pranks, all he ever did was play Quidditch and talk about playing Quidditch. She sighed. She loved him, but..._there shouldn't be a 'but'_.

Sirius' finger in her side brought her back to the present, and she turned around to prod him back. Soon it had escalated into a deadly battle involving anything they could get their hands on—pillows mostly. Once Lily had Sirius pinned down on his back on the couch, she promptly sat on his stomach to keep him there and laughed in triumph. "Give up?"

"Never!" he cried, and struggled until he was sitting upright with her facing him while still on his lap, both of them grinning and breathing hard. They paused, realizing how close they were. For the second time that night, Lily's face was scant inches from his. When neither of them moved after a few seconds, their grins began to falter. Her heart began to pound again. Her chest was pressed up against his; her hips were sitting squarely on his thighs. Without thinking at all about what she was doing, Lily closed the space and kissed him.

They both pulled away, startled. He looked at her, unsure of what had just happened, and she tried to control her quickening heart. "What—" he began, then broke off and swallowed. Lily didn't know what she was doing. She felt heady and breathless. The butterflies in her stomach threatened to explode. Leaning forward on impulse, she kissed him again. This time he responded. He kissed her back, moving his lips on hers and making her feel dizzier than she ever had before. He took her head in his hands, running gentle fingers through her hair, and she thought she was going to burst with passion. They drank each other in until he finally tore himself away, putting his hands on her shoulders as if to keep her at a certain distance. "This is—what's—"

"Sorry," Lily gasped, not really meaning it. He looked at her, still breathing raggedly, and she could see in his eyes that he wasn't sorry either.

"Lily..." She closed her eyes. His voice was low and hoarse, sending shivers down her spine. "This isn't—this is not good," he managed. "Not that—not that I don't—James is my best friend, you have to understand...I can't do this to him."

"He doesn't need to know," she breathed, showing a side of herself that she hadn't ever known was there. Sirius looked at her with a pained expression, torn. She hated herself for putting him in this position. He didn't deserve it. Just because she was bored with James gave her no right to...to...

This time it was Sirius who initiated. Their hands explored each other's bodies, and it was new and it was exciting. As he moved his mouth over hers, she began to slowly lean backwards on the couch. He wrapped an arm under her, knowing her intent, and laid her gently down on her back, then began kissing her again, one hand creeping under her shirt.

**xxxxx**

The next morning, Lily woke in her four-poster bed feeling rejuvenated. They had agreed last night to say nothing of what had happened. She saw James when she went down to breakfast, and gave him a kiss as she sat down beside him. Sirius came in just after and sat directly across from her. Their eyes met once...that was all that was needed. She flushed and looked down at her plate as James kissed her cheek, breathing deeply. James laughed at her, thinking that it was him that caused the reaction. Sirius knew. She sneaked another glance at him, and he was still looking at her. Oh, he knew.


End file.
